There’s a growing library of books about crypto. Here are some of Decrypt’s favorites, from thrilling tales of Bitcoin buccaneers to technical tomes.
There’s a growing library of books about crypto. Image: Decrypt In 2021, crypto went more mainstream than ever before, and there’s now a growing library of books exploring Bitcoin and blockchain tech for the legions of crypto-curious.
Decrypt ‘s staff has rounded up a list of our favorites: Digital Gold, by Nathaniel Popper We may still not know exactly who the pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto is, but Digital Gold will teach you nearly everything else you’d want to know about the creation and early rise of the top cryptocurrency.
Nathaniel Popper’s book, last updated with a new epilogue in 2016, starts with the early interactions between Nakamoto and his far-flung collaborators and then tracks Bitcoin through iconic points of interest like the Mt. Gox exchange hack and illicit Silk Road marketplace takedown. It also chronicles the rise of major crypto players like Erik Voorhees and the Winklevoss twins, among others. If you already know Bitcoin’s more recent history pretty well, then this is a richly compelling way to fill in the earlier gap. — Andrew Hayward The Infinite Machine, by Camila Russo Camila Russo, a former Bloomberg journalist who has gone on to become the “chiefess” of leading DeFi publication The Defiant, is the author of The Infinite Machine : the first book dedicated to the history of the Ethereum blockchain. What Digital Gold is for Bitcoin, The Infinite Machine is for Ethereum. Meticulously researched and expertly related, the book is the thrilling tale of Ethereum’s “army of crypto-hackers,” its eight founding members .
Russo reveals how one of them, Charles Hoskinson , who went on to found Cardano, had a very different vision for Ethereum, and how Ethereum’s prime creator Vitalik Buterin—only 20 years old at the time—made the fateful decisions that would determine the future of a platform that is now worth over $400 billion. Russo deftly covers Ethereum’s founding, feuds, hair-raising hacks, and hard forks, as well as its phenomenal growth and role in the future of the Internet—making The Infinite Machine required reading for any Ethereum or DeFi enthusiast. And it’s heading to the silver screen soon—a film adaptation has been announced, which will be financed with sales of NFTs . — Adriana Hamacher Bubble or Revolution? by Neel Mehta, Aditya Agashe and Parth Detroja If you are completely new to blockchain and cryptocurrency, then this is the book for you. I speak from experience: when I first started exploring the industry, Bubble or Revolution helped crystalize some very complex concepts in an approachable, easy-to-understand manner.
It’s an ideal first step in your personal crypto education, starting with the creation of Bitcoin and the fundamentals and use cases of blockchain technology, while also providing a basic understanding of altcoins, crypto-economics, and growing business adoption. The three authors have backgrounds at Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, but deftly avoid getting bogged down in jargon or overly technical explanations. — Andrew Hayward Bitcoin Billionaires, by Ben Mezrich The follow-up to Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires , which chronicled the genesis of Facebook, Bitcoin Billionaires picks up with Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss winning a multi-million-dollar settlement from Facebook and embarking on a new venture: investing in this crazy new thing called Bitcoin. Along the way, Mezrich charts the growth of the cryptocurrency space, from the rag-tag cypherpunks and libertarians drawn to Bitcoin in its early days, to the suited-and-booted bankers and investors seeking to lay down a veneer of respectability atop crypto’s anarchic subculture.
[ WATCH : Ben Mezrich talks to Decrypt about his new book on Reddit and GameStop]
The book is not without its flaws. The quick prose seems to have been written with one eye on the inevitable film adaptation . There are endless scenes at yacht parties and Ibiza clubs in which people deliver leaden lumps of exposition to the strains of a thumping EDM beat. And it’s a little tricky to identify with the multimillionaire Winklevoss twins’ quest to become billionaires, yet the author’s treatment of the protagonists is extremely friendly. The Accidental Billionaires was undeniably a more compelling underdog narrative, and Zuckerberg a more interestingly flawed protagonist. Still, it zips along, and it’s an interesting look at the growing pains of the cryptocurrency industry as it matures. — Stephen Graves Out of the Ether, by Matthew Leising Out of the Ether pulls double duty as a book about Ethereum. On one hand, […]
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